Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Feb. 18, 1999, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
SPORTS Julius Curry seeks second straight state » Wrestling crown 1B Vol. 111 No. 07 KM Board member calls for school merger But Bolin’s the only one supporting it BY ELIZABETH STEWART Of The Herald Staff Four of the five members of the Kings Mountain Board of Education and Supt. Dr. Bob McRae do not support a merger of the three school systems in Senior Lifestyles special section inside today’s Herald [1 5 4 SN Lo Q r 4 = Ww . nS i Ing | m—-. 4. Xx ve NS \ J i LJ \] T 2 [ NB Some people hoarding food for Year 2000 the county. Chairman Ronnie Hawkins, Vice- Chairman Shearra Miller and members B. S. Peeler and Dr. Larry Allen all agree that “bigger is not always better” in separate statements on the issue which surfaced again last week after the fifth member of the board, Melony Bolin, was quot- ed by a Shelby Star reporter that she supports merger. Bolin says she may not have made clear exactly what she feels. She said she supports one Thursday, February 18, 1999 “I remain unconvinced that merger offers any consider- able benefits to the students of Kings Mountain District Schools.” -Supt. Bob McRae administrative unit for all three systems and retaining “individ- ualized” schools. “A recent article in the Shelby Star quoted me as saying I sup- port merger but what I see as a merger is not what my fellow board members see as merger. “I would like to see a consoli- dation of resources and admin- Kings Mountain, NC «Since 1889 *50¢ istrations at one place and I would suggest Central School in Kings Mountain as the ideal place and Dr. McRae as the ide- al superintendent to head it up.” Bolin says she would like to see citizens of the county have a vote on merger if that is in the future and suggests that either the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners or the North Carolina General Assembly put together an unbiased task force to study the issue of merger. Bolin’s opinion on consolidat- ing administrations is not shared by her fellow board members. Chairman Ronnie Hawkins said the board has gone on record as being op- posed to merger of any kind. “I remain unconvinced that merger offers any considerable benefits to the students of Kings Mountain District Schools,” said McRae. “I would not say ‘no potential’ for anything See Merger, 3A Little Billy succumbs to Batten’s Disease Bunches rebuilding a piece of history at old KM mills By ELIZABETH STEWART Of The Herald Staff Businessman Kelly Bunch wants to hear the ~ By ELIZABETH STEWART 1 : lin dat OF The Herald Staff ooms humming again in this town whose bread and butter used to come from the old Margrace By all and Pauline Mills. ACO “It isn’t a pipe dream,” says Bunch, who wants Se fi the rustic mills to come alive with workers. Ne pS “This place used to rock and roll,” said son, Jr Ys y Johnny Bunch, as he pointed out the renovation I progress underway at the Margrace Mill Monday. sigh! pe Monday Kelly Bunch was overseeing the reno- yaton ora warenouse at the old Pauline Mill site combat and sons, Johnny and Phillip and son-in-law, 2 Batten’s Mike Hunter, were busy at the Margrace site and > Disease. at the company offices on Grover Road putting son of Billy and Patricia Byers, ~ of Plantation Drive, lost his courageous battle and died Tuesday at home at 10:53 p.m. Both Billy and his sister, Tabitha, 9, were normal kids until the rare genetic disorder struck Billy when he was about 3 and struck Tabitha when she was 4. “Four years ago doctors gave us no hope for Billy but we came home and in June we held that little teeny bop- per his 13th birthday party.” -Patricia Byers “These children are our life,” said the mother and doting fa- ther. Life expectancy for the dis- ease is 8 to 12 years. Mrs. Byers said she and her husband would never give up hope that their young daughter will sur- vive the disease which cripples the neurological system. “Four years ago doctors gave us no hope for Billy but we came home and in June we held that little teeny bopper his 13th birthday party,” said Patricia. Billy Byers Sr. says he owes a great debt to his neighbors in Bethlehem Community and to all of Kings Mountain who have “taken our kids in their hearts.” Byers said he would never forget Billy, although he knew the special boy was in no pain - now. In addition to his parents and sister, Billy is survived by one half-sister, Lisa Bowen; and his grandparents, Pat and Carl Worthey of Shelby, John Hastings of Casar and Bertha Frank of Lawndale. Funeral arrangements, which are incomplete, will be an- nounced by Cleveland Funeral Service. First Carolina Federal Ed Goforth and two of his 40 ostriches he and his wife, Pam, raise on their Kings Mountain farm LER 2 Goforths' ostriches big and fast, and they taste pretty good too! BY ALAN HODGE Staff Writer Like many things new, eating ostrich meat falls un- der the category "don't knock it if you haven't tried it." Hoping that many more folks will give the big bird a try are Kings Mountain ostrich farmers Pam and Ed Goforth. Tasting like good quality beef, ostrich meat is practi- cally fat-free. Sausage made with ostrich meat is indis- tinguishable from regular pork patties and is more healthful. A 100 gram portion of ostrich meat has just 2.8 grams of fat, compared to chicken at 7.4 grams of | fat and pork at 9.7 grams. Of all meats, ostrich has the second lowest cholesterol next to chicken and the sec- ond highest iron content after venison. Hoping to make a living from all the good things that ostrich meat promises consumers, the Goforths de- cided several years ago to plunge into the ostrich busi- ness. Their first bird came to them literally on the luck of a draw. "We went to an ostrich seminar in Charlotte given by some people from Amarillo, Texas," said Ed Goforth. "We won a chick as part of a drawing, When we went _ to Texas to get a mate, we ended up bring back eight ostriches." + Now up to about 40 birds including a seven-foot tall, 350 pound breeder ostrich named "Shaq," the Goforths are fully committed to seeing their investment pay off not only for the money, but because they believe in the quality of their product. "Our ostriches are all free-range birds that have no hormones, steroids or additives put into their meat," said Pam Goforth. "The meat is USDA inspected and very healthy. We have several customers who have no- ticed a drop in their cholesterol level from eating os- trich." Strolling across the Goforth's fields, the ostriches seem as at home as if they were on the plains of Africa. Gentle and curious about visitors, the birds can nonetheless defend themselves quite well should a stray dog or person want trouble. "If they want to run away, they can be doing 40 miles per hour in about four steps,” said Goforth. "Their legs can generate 2,000 pounds of pressure and kick a hole through sheet metal." Tipped with toenails as big as the end of a pickax, an ostrich's feet can be deadly to enemies. As well as being hardy, ostriches can live to a ripe old age. "The birds can take any kind of weather," Goforth said. "I've seen them completely crusted with ice, but their feathers are so thick it doesn't faze them." Even though an ostrich can be self sufficient, it still takes a lot of work to breed them and make their meat market-ready. "We make our own food for them right here," Goforth said. "It's a blend of oats, alfalfa, and corn. An ostrich can eat about four pounds of feed per day, plus . what they forage off the ground." With spring just around the corner, Pam Goforth knows her work is beginning. Watching for the females to lay their eggs on the ground, she collects and incu- bates them. - "When the chicks hatch they begin growing about 12 inches per month in height," Goforth said. "In just a few months, they're taller than a person.” The financial aspect of ostrich farming has been a roller coaster ride for the Goforths and many others. "Ten years ago a pair of breeders cost $50,000," Goforth said. "Now, they go for about $1,500. The mar- ket is currently in transition from a breeder's market to a meat market. The price of hides has dropped from $300 to about $40 each as well. With the price of birds dropping, the main start-up cost a person has now would be in fencing." Support for ostrich growers like the Goforths has come from from the North Carolina Ostrich Breeders Association and the American Ostrich Association. More and more local food dealers and restaurants like Killdeer Farms and Ni Fens restaurant in Shelby are of- fering ostrich meat. The Goforths also sell what they raise at their home. Their phone number is 739-7169. [1D Mountain 300° W. Mountain St. (ERI 739-4781 865-1111 529 S. New Hope Rd. the final touches to plans for improving both sites. : “The late Jim Dickey’s grandfather made these white bricks in 1914,” said Bunch, holding up bricks a contractor will ship to Baton Rouge, La. from the Pauline Mill site. After the four acre site is cleared Bunch plans to sell it or develop it : Bunch said most Kings Mountain families have close ties to both the Margrace and Pauline. “It will be sad to see those buildings come down,” said Bunch as he watched Gene Horne cut trees on the Pauline property and Bill Hovis and Robert Cudd work on the interior of the new warehouse. is Bunch said the demand for such a warehouse type space in the 5,000 to 10,000 square feet range growing. “If I had 10 of these I could rent them in a heartbeat,” he said. “It’s just a simple building but it’s immediately useful when it’s finished.” See History, 3A LIB STEWART / THE HERALD Robert Cudd, Kelly Bunch and Bill Harris, left to right, renovating Pauline Mill building. Shelby 1238 E. Dixon Blvd. EH EE | PPY, Member ¥FDIE
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 18, 1999, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75